All Hours
by alynwa
Summary: Some insight into some of the Crane Poole & Schmidt attorneys from the cleanup crew.  All BL characters belong to David Kelley, all original characters are mine.


All Hours

Millie Velez, Brianna Borovsky and Mavis Jackson went into the 14th floor galley area of the law offices of Crane Poole and Schmidt and motioned for the new girl, Tyra Sanchez, to join them. It was her first night and they were showing her the ropes. It was lunchtime, also known as 3AM. Each woman took a turn heating up the food she had brought from home and when that was done, they carried their food to Conference Room A and settled down to eat and shoot the breeze. They had spent the first half of their shift dusting, polishing and vacuuming the 26th floor and after their meal; they would do the same to this floor until their "day" ended at 7AM.

"Tyra," Millie said, "don't let anyone tell you different, _chica_, the rich are crazy. These hotshot lawyers here? Crazy." Tyra, who was no one's fool, responded, "How can you know that? We don't start work until 11PM!"

Mavis laughed out loud. "Millie ain't lying, girl! You know why we clean the 26th floor first?" To Tyra's negative head shake, she retorted, "Because we got tired of running into the lawyers down here all the time! As it is, we _still _run into them except now, it's usually because they're coming in at 6 or 6:30 in the morning. That's not too bad, though, because they're only underfoot for an hour, at most. Do you think _I'd_ be working sixteen and twenty hours a day like they do if I were making almost a million dollars a year? Huh, not on your life!" Tyra scoffed at that, "OK, now I know you're just making that up! Nobody makes that kind of money and does that! I'm supposed to believe all these people make that kind of money and stay here 'til all hours?"

"Not all of them," Millie said, "The main ones you're likely to run into are Alan Shore, Shirley Schmidt and Paul Lewiston. Denny Crane used to be here a lot, years ago but, not so much now. And depending on what they're doing, any one of them can have any number of people here working with them."

Tyra took another bite of her lunch and thought about what she was being told. She looked at Millie and inquired, "Can you tell me what they're like? In case I see one of them. I mean, are they nice?"

Millie contemplated her answer for a moment and then spoke, "I can tell you a little bit about Mr. Lewiston. One night around 12:30, I was cleaning and just as I got to his office door, my phone rang. It was my sister telling me that our mother in Puerto Rico had had a major heart attack. I was really upset because I had just spent all my extra money getting my car fixed and I couldn't afford a plane ticket. I told Rosa that when I got off work, I would make some calls to see if I could borrow air fare and come home. Anyway, when I hung up, I was so upset, I started crying. I went into his office with my dust rag, just crying and dusting the credenza. All of a sudden, the chair behind the desk swings around and he's sitting there, looking at me over his glasses. He was holding some papers that he must have been reading. He's got this voice that comes out through his nose. Real nasal, I guess you would call it. 'What's wrong with you?' he says, sounding all annoyed. I wasn't expecting anyone to be in there, so when he turned and spoke, I jumped he scared me so bad. I think he felt bad that he scared me because he says a little softer, 'Why are you crying? What's the matter?' I don't know why but, I told him about my mom and how I needed to get to Puerto Rico and I couldn't afford to miss work. He sat there staring at me the whole time. I felt like an idiot. Just when I started to apologize for bothering him, he told me to sit. He turned on his computer, asked me whether I needed to fly into San Juan, Ponce or Aguadilla and proceeded to book me on a flight to Puerto Rico leaving that day at 4PM! Then, he pulls out his wallet and hands me two hundred dollars! For cab fare, he says. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. When I told him I would find a way to pay me back, he told me I could pay him back by not letting any of his coworkers know what he had done because it would mess up his image. He said the staff is a little scared of him and he wants to keep it that way."

Brianna and Mavis nodded their heads; it was obvious they had heard this story before. Tyra was amazed. She marveled, "He did that for you and didn't want _anything_ from you? The rich really _are_ different."

Mavis piped up, "I can tell you a little somethin'-somethin' about Alan Shore! I was cleaning his office one night and opened his closet to get the garbage bags I keep in there and caught him doing the wild thing with this pretty black woman!"

The other women squealed and Tyra shouted, "No, you didn't!"

Mavis retorted, "Yes, I did! I pulled open the door and there they were! Her dress was up and his pants were down and I don't know who was more shocked, them or me. I just kind of said, 'oh' and shut the door. I got out of that office so fast! About a minute later, he catches up to me and apologizes. I didn't know what to say so I was like, 'That's OK.' Next thing I know, the woman walks up to us. She smiles at me and Mr. Shore introduces her as his colleague, Vanessa Walker. Turns out she's a lawyer and works here, too! He told me he doesn't care what people think about him but, he did care what they thought about her. He asked me if I would be discreet and not let their coworkers know what I saw. I told him I wouldn't. He hugged me and said, 'Thanks, Sweetie.' And, I got a really nice Christmas bonus from him, too"

Tyra laughed, "So he's a little freaky, huh?" Mavis replied, "From what I've seen, more than a little but, let me tell you, that man works hard. I've seen him working as late as 3AM and coming in as early as 5AM when he has a big case. Some of his cases get TV coverage and he is always defending someone everyone else thinks is guilty. He'll do it for free, too, if he believes his client is innocent. And, he usually wins. I overheard Mr. Lewiston say once that Alan Shore is the highest paid associate they have because he's so good. If I'm ever in a situation, God forbid, where I need a lawyer, I'm going to him for help."

Brianna, partly because she wasn't totally fluent in English, was usually content to let her more boisterous coworkers dominate the conversation but, this time she felt obligated to help her newest colleague adjust and understand the people they clean up for and after. "Tyra, one night, I hear the woman partner, Miss Schmidt, say she earns more than million dollars a year. It was one o'clock in morning and she was arguing with Mr. Lewiston in her office that she was not taking case she did not like. Said she didn't need money and firm not need money, either. I was washing window wall in hallway and could see them in her office. Her door was open a bit so I could hear some of conversation. She say that man who wanted her as lawyer owns company that hurt environment and people. She said some things more important than money. She said she don't care that case pays two million dollars. She said Crane Poole and Schmidt will not take case. She said, 'I'm Schmidt! End of discussion!' Mr. Lewiston was very angry and left office. She saw me working and smiled. When she put on coat to leave, she said good night. Nice woman but, strong. Very strong."

Mavis said, "Told you. Who in their right mind turns down that much money? Crazy. See that office down the hall? That belongs to senior partner Denny Crane. When I first started working here, I walked into his office around 11:30 to clean it and I looked and saw him on his balcony holding hands with Alan Shore! I admit it, I stared. Well, Mr. Shore must have seen me out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at me, smiled and turned right back around and kept on holding Crane's hand like it was alright."

Tyra said, "What did you do, then?" Mavis answered, "Well, they didn't care so I didn't care, either. I did my job except I came back later to vacuum 'cause I didn't want to disturb them. When I returned, they were gone and I washed out an ashtray and two glasses they had been using. Whenever you clean Mr. Crane's office, Tyra, check the balcony because they sit out there and drink and smoke almost every night. I thought that first night I saw them that Mr. Shore must swing both ways but, now I know that they are really just very close friends. They're kind of like father and son, too. That Christmas, Mr. Crane gave me a nice bonus."

Millie jumped in, "They _all_ tip really well at Christmas. Tyra, as long as you do your job and accept whatever you may see them do or hear them say as them being them, you will do just fine. Remember, the rich are crazy."

Tyra was trying to absorb everything she had heard. "So," she said, "they're crazy but, it's a _good _kind of crazy."

All the women laughed at that as they gathered their things and prepared to get back to work. "Come, ladies," Brianna said, "These offices are not going to clean themselves."


End file.
